If you are suffering from pain traveling down your leg, you need to read this.
Have you ever had a sharp pain that traveled down either one of your legs? This uncomfortable pain is usually referred to as “sciatica” because it is pain that travels down the sciatic nerve, which originates in the lumbar spine and divides into various branches which travel as low as the feet. Medical protocols for treating sciatica typically contain some combination of pain medicine, muscle relaxers, and a possible steroid injection if a herniated disc is determined to be the cause. While these do help ease the pain, none of these actually FIX the root cause of the pain. In order to achieve this, we take a different approach at the Springfield Wellness Center.
The most common cause of sciatica is an intervertebral disc herniation. When this occurs, the contents of the disc irritate the nearby nerve root, which joins with other nerve roots to form the sciatic nerve. When this happens, an inflammatory response is triggered in the body which chemically irritates the nerve even further. This leads to the shooting pain down the leg. So what do we do to correct this?
- Chiropractic adjustment - the foundation of our corrective care is the adjustment, which seeks to correct any misalignments in the spine that are affecting the adjacent nerve roots. The adjustment also promotes movement of the disc back into its proper place between the two vertebrae at that motion segment.
- Lumbar traction - traction applies a pulling force on the lower body that slightly elongates the spine, which helps to open up the joint spaces. Doing so helps take pressure off the nerve roots and can make the adjustment more effective, especially when done before
the adjustment. - Electric Stimulation and Ice - The muscles around the area of involvement become very tight and tender, so helping them to relax is important in order to get relief. The ice adds an additional pain relieving component as well as an anti-inflammatory component, too.
- Corrective Exercise - exercise also plays a big role in recovery. Not only do certain extension exercises promote movement of the disc to its proper place, but overall strengthening of muscles in and around the pelvis can allow for proper lifting techniques, which can help prevent this problem from occurring in the future.
If you are experiencing sciatica, it is important to understand that you DO have options out there that can truly provide the relief you are looking for. Contact us at 217-726-0422 to schedule a consultation and see how we may help you.
-Dr. Pat